Romantic Readings I Love You by Roy Croft
I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you, not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you, for the part of me that you bring out. I love you, for putting your hand into my heaped-up heart, and passing over all the foolish, weak things that you can’t help dimly seeing there, and for drawing out, into the light, all the beautiful belongings that no one else had looked quite far enough to find. I love you, because you are helping me to make of the lumber of my life, not a tavern, but a temple. Out of the works of my every day, not a reproach, but a song. I love you, because you have done more than any creed could have done to make me good, and more than any fate could have done to make me happy. You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign. You have done it by being yourself. Perhaps that is what being a friend means, after all.
On Love by Thomas a Kempis
Love is a mighty power, a great and complete good. Love alone lightens every burden, and makes rough places smooth. It bears every hardship as though it were nothing, and renders all bitterness sweet and acceptable. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller or better in heaven or earth; for love is born of God. Love flies, runs and leaps for joy. It is free and unrestrained. Love knows no limits, but ardently transcends all bounds. Love feels no burden, takes no account of toil, attempts things beyond its strength. Love sees nothing as impossible, for it feels able to achieve all things. It is strange and effective, while those who lack love faint and fail. Love is not fickle and sentimental, nor is it intent on vanities. Like a living flame and a burning torch, it surges upward and surely surmounts every obstacle.
Sonnet XLIII by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight. For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day's most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use in my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints, -- I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death.
I Am Love
Some say I can fly on the wind, yet I haven’t any wings. Some have found me floating on the open sea, yet I cannot swim. Some have felt my warmth on cold nights, yet I have no flame. And though you cannot see me, I lay between two lovers at the hearth of fireplaces. I am the twinkle in your child’s eyes. I am hidden in the lines of your mother's face. I am your father's shield as he guards your home. And yet… Some say I am stronger than steel, yet I am as fragile as a tear. Some have never searched for me, yet I am around them always. Some say I die with loss, yet I am endless. And though you cannot hear me, I dance on the laughter of children. I am woven into the whispers of passion. I am in the blessings of Grandmothers. I embrace the cries of newborn babies. And yet… Some say I am a flower, yet I am also the seed. Some have little faith in me, yet I will always believe in them. Some say I cannot cure the ill, yet I nourish the soul. And though you cannot touch me, I am the gentle hand of the kind. I am the fingertips that caress your cheek at night. I am the hug of a child. I am love.
Looking For Your Face by Rumi
From the beginning of my life I have been looking for your face, but today I have seen it. Today I have seen the charm, the beauty, the unfathomable grace of the face that I was looking for. Today I have found you, and those who laughed and scorned me yesterday are sorry that they were not looking as I did. I am bewildered by the magnificence of your beauty, and wish to see you with a hundred eyes. My heart has burned with passion and has searched forever for this wondrous beauty that I now behold. I am ashamed to call this love human, and afraid of God to call it divine. Your fragrant breath, like the morning breeze, has come to the stillness of the garden. You have breathed new life into me. I have become your sunshine, and also your shadow. My soul is screaming in ecstasy. Every fiber of my being is in love with you. Your effulgence has lit a fire in my heart, and you have made radiant for me the earth and sky. My arrow of love has arrived at the target. I am in the house of mercy, and my heart is a place of prayer.
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate...When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds. Admit impediments. Love is not love, Which alters when it alteration finds,Or bends with the remover to remove. Oh, no! it is an ever-fixed mark. That looks on tempests.. and is never shaken. It is the star to every wandering bark. Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love is not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks. Within his bending sickle's compass come. Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out.. even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved,I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
The Magic of Love by Helen Steiner Rice
Love is like magic, and it always will be, For love still remains life's sweet mystery. Love works in ways that are wondrous and strange, And there's nothing in life that love cannot change! Love can transform the most commonplace Into beauty and splendor and sweetness and grace. Love is unselfish, understanding and kind, For it sees with its heart, and not with its mind. Love is the answer that everyone seeks; Love is the language that every heart speaks. Love can't be bought, it is priceless and free. Love, like pure magic, is life's sweet mystery!!
THIS IS FRIENDSHIP by Mary Carolyn Davies
I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love the part of me that you bring out. I love you for putting your hand into my heaped-up heart. And passing over all the frivolous and weak things you can not help seeing there. And drawing out into the Light, all the beautiful radiant things. That no one else has looked quite hard enough to find. I love you for ignoring the possibilities of the fool in me. And laying hold of the possibilities of good in me. I love you for closing your eyes to the discords in me, And adding to the music in me by worshipful listening. You have done it without a touch, without a sign, without a word, you have done it by being yourself. You are each other’s best friend.
Touched By An Angel by Maya Angelou
We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight live coiled in shells of loneliness until love leaves its high holy temple and comes into our sight to liberate us into life. Love arrives and in its train come ecstasies old memories of pleasure ancient histories of pain. Yet if we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls. We are weaned from our timidity In the flush of love's light we dare be brave And suddenly we see that love costs all we are and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free.
Destiny
Somewhere there waited in this world of ours for one lone soul another lonely soul, each choosing each through all the weary hours and meeting strangely at one sudden goal. Then blend they, like green leaves with golden flowers, into one beautiful and perfect whole; and life's long night is ended and the way lies open onward to eternal day.
Ching
When two people are at one in their inmost hearts, they shatter even the strength of iron or bronze. And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts, their words are sweet and strong, like the fragrance of orchids.
Irish Blessing
May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon the fields. May the light of friendship guide your paths together. May the laughter of children grace the halls of your home. May the joy of living for one another trip a smile from your lips, a twinkle from your eye, May the good Lord embrace you with the arms that have nurtured you the whole length of your joy-filled days.
To Love Another by Rainer Maria Rilke
For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation... Loving does not at first mean merging, surrendering, and uniting with another person-- it is a high inducement for the individual to ripen... to become world for the sake of another person; it is a great, demanding claim, something that chooses us and calls us to vast distances.
The Hungering Dark by Frederick Buechner
Matrimony is called holy, because this brave and fateful promise of a man and a woman, to love and honor and serve each other through thick and thin, looks beyond itself to more fateful promises still, and speaks mightily of what human life at its most human and most alive and most holy must always be. Every wedding is a dream, and every word that is spoken there means more than it says, and every gesture - the clasping of hands, the giving of rings- is rich with mystery. And so it is that we hope with every bride and groom, that the love they bear one another, and the joy they take in one another, may help them grow in love for this whole world where their final joy lies.
What is a Marriage? by Colin McCarty
It is the most beautiful thing that can happen between two people in love. A marriage is more than just a husband and a wife. It is a bridge which allows the love of two very special people to give meaning and worth and wonder to life. It is a continual process of building; of shaping; of communicating; and caring. It is the deepest and sweetest understanding. It is sharing todays and tomorrows together and making each one more treasured and more complete than anyone could make them alone. A marriage is a home interwoven with hopes and memories and dreams. The thankfulness and love it can bring have no comparison. Being happily married is the most beautiful thing that can happen... to anyone.
The Foundations of Marriage by Regina Hill
Love, trust, and forgiveness are the foundations of marriage. In marriage, many days will bring happiness, while other days may be sad. But together, two hearts can overcome everything... In marriage, all of the moments won't be exciting or romantic, and sometimes worries and anxiety will be overwhelming. But together, two hearts that accept will find comfort together. Recollections of past joys, pains, and shared feelings will be the glue that holds everything together during even the worst and most insecure moments. Reaching out to each other as a friend, and becoming the confidant and companion that the other one needs, is the true magic and beauty of any two people together. It's inspiring in each other a dream or a feeling, and having faith in each other and not giving up... even when all the odds say to quit. It's allowing each other to be vulnerable, to be himself or herself, even when the opinions or thoughts aren't in total agreement or exactly what you'd like them to be. It's getting involved and showing interest in each other, really listening and being available, the way any best friend should be. Exactly three things need to be remembered in a marriage if it is to be a mutual bond of sharing, caring, and loving throughout life: love, trust, and forgiveness.
Somewhere I Have Never Traveled by E.E. Cummings
Somewhere I have never traveled, gladly beyond any experience, your eyes have their silence: in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me, or which I cannot touch because they are too near, your slightest look easily will unclose me though I have closed myself as fingers, you open always petal by petal myself as spring opens (touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose or if your wish be to close me, I and my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly, as when the heart of this flower imagines the snow carefully everywhere descending; nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals the power of your intense fragility: whose texture compels me with this colour of its countries, rendering death and forever with each breathing (I do not know what it is about you that closes and opens; only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses) nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands.
The Art of Marriage
The little things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It is remembering to say I love you at least once a day. It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon; it should continue through all the years. It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is standing together facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family. It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy. It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways. It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel. It is not looking for perfection in each other. It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding, and a sense of humor. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow. It is finding room for the things of the spirit. It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal. It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.
The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing. It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive. It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals, or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide or fade it or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being a human. It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy. I want to know if you can see the beauty even when it is not pretty everyday, and if you can source your life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, Yes! It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children. It doesn't interst me who you are, or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
These I Can Promise
I cannot promise riches, wealth, or gold; I cannot promise you an easy pathway that leads away from growing old. But I can promise all my heart's devotion; A smile to chase away your tears; A love that's ever true and ever growing; A hand to hold in yours through each tomorrow. I can promise to you all my love, given from deep within my heart. This is what I have to offer and I can promise it is yours until death do us part.
Ogden Nash (1902-1971)
Geniuses of countless nations have told their love for generations till all their memorable phrases are common as goldenrod or daisies. Their girls have glimmered like the moon, or shimmered like a summer moon, stood like a lily, fled like a fawn, now the sunset, now the dawn, here the princess in the tower there the sweet forbidden flower. Darling, when I look at you every aged phrase is new, and there are moments when it seems I've married one of Shakespeare's dreams.
The Colour of My Love by David Foster and Arthur Janov
I'll paint a sun to warm your heart knowing that we'll never part. I'll draw the years all passing by so much to learn, so much to try. I'll paint my mood in a shadow blue, Paint my soul to be with you. I'll sketch your lips in shaded tones, draw your mouth to my own. I'll trace a hand to wipe your tears and trace a look to calm your fears. A silhouette of dark and light to hold each other oh so tight. I'll paint the stars in the evening sky, draw the light into your eyes, a touch of love, a touch of grace, to softly fall on your moonlit face. And with this ring our lives will start, let nothing keep our love apart. I'll take your hand to hold in mine, and be together through all time. From This Day Forward Author Unknown From this day forward, you shall not walk alone. My heart will be your shelter, and my arms will be your home.
Time In A Bottle by Jim Croce
If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do, is to save every day till eternity passes away, just to spend them with you. If I could make days last forever; if words could make wishes come true; I'd save every day like a treasure and then, again, I would spend them with you. If I had a box just for wishes and dreams that had never come true; the box would be empty, except for the memory of how they were answered by you. But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do, once you find them. I've looked around enough to know that you're the one I want to go through time with.
Somewhere by Sir Edwin Arnold (1832-1904)
Somewhere there waiteth in this world of ours for one lone soul, another lonely soul - Each chasing each through all the weary hours, And meeting strangely at one sudden goal; Then blend they - like green leaves with golden flowers, Into one beautiful and perfect whole - And life's long night is ended, and the way Lies open onward to eternal day.
I Promise by Dorothy R. Colgan I promise to give you the best of myself and to ask of you no more than you can give. I promise to respect you as your own person and to realize that your interests, desires and needs are no less important than my own. I promise to share with you my time and my attention and to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship. I promise to keep myself open to you, to let you see through the window of my world into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams. I promise to grow along with you, to be willing to face changes in order to keep our relationship alive and exciting. I promise to love you in good times and bad, with all I have to give and all I feel inside in the only way I know how. Completely and forever.
Reading
When a man and a woman are in Love, His life lies within hers and her life lies within his. Each lives as an individual, yet they also live for one another. Each strives for independent goals, but they also work together to achieve their goals. When a man and a woman are in Love. They will give to one another what they need to survive and help fulfill each other’s wants. They will turn one another’s disappointment into satisfactions. They will turn one another frustrations into contentment. They will work as a mirror, reflecting to each other their strength sand weaknesses. They will work together to alleviate the emotional walls that may separate them. They will work together to build a better understanding of one another. They will learn to lean on one another, but not so much as to be a burden on the other. They will learn to reach out to one another, but not so much as to suffocate the other. They will learn when it is time to speak and when it is time to listen. They will be there to comfort each other in times of sorrow. They will be there to celebrate together in times of happiness. They will be one another’s friend; guiding each other to the happiness that life holds. They will be one another’s companion, facing together the challenges that life may present. When a man and a woman are in Love, his life lies within hers and her life lies within his. Together they will love one another for the rest of their lives and forevermore.
Marriage Joins Two People In the Circle of Its Love by Ed O'Neill
Marriage is a Promise of Love and it is a commitment to Life… To the best that two people can find and bring out in each other. It offers opportunities for sharing and growth no other human relationship can equal. A physical and emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime. Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life’s most important relationships. A wife and a husband are each other’s best friend, confidant, lover, teacher, and, listener. There may come times when one partner is heartbroken or ailing, and the love of the other may resemble the tender caring of a parent for a child. Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life. Happiness is fuller.
The Promise by Heather Berry
Within the blessed union of souls, where two hearts intertwine to become one, there lies a promise. Perfectly born, divinely created, and intimately shared, it is a place where the hope and majesty of beginnings reside. Where all things are made possible by the astounding love shared by two spirits. As you hold each other's hands, may your unconditional love and devotion take you to places where you've both only dreamed. Where you'll dwell for a lifetime of happiness, sheltered in the warmth of each other's arms.
Love is Friendship Caught Fire by Laura Hendricks
Love is friendship caught fire; it is quiet, mutual confidence, sharing, and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection, and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present, hopes for the future, and does not brood over the past. It is the day-in and day-out chronicles of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories, and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you do not have it, no matter what else there is, it is not enough.
I Love You by Roy Croft
I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you, not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you, for the part of me that you bring out. I love you, for putting your hand into my heaped-up heart, and passing over all the foolish, weak things that you can’t help dimly seeing there, and for drawing out, into the light, all the beautiful belongings that no one else had looked quite far enough to find. I love you, because you are helping me to make of the lumber of my life, not a tavern, but a temple. Out of the works of my every day, not a reproach, but a song. I love you, because you have done more than any creed could have done to make me good, and more than any fate could have done to make me happy. You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign. You have done it by being yourself. Perhaps that is what being a friend means, after all.
On Love by Thomas a Kempis
Love is a mighty power, a great and complete good. Love alone lightens every burden, and makes rough places smooth. It bears every hardship as though it were nothing, and renders all bitterness sweet and acceptable. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller or better in heaven or earth; for love is born of God. Love flies, runs and leaps for joy. It is free and unrestrained. Love knows no limits, but ardently transcends all bounds. Love feels no burden, takes no account of toil, attempts things beyond its strength. Love sees nothing as impossible, for it feels able to achieve all things. It is strange and effective, while those who lack love faint and fail. Love is not fickle and sentimental, nor is it intent on vanities. Like a living flame and a burning torch, it surges upward and surely surmounts every obstacle.
Sonnet XLIII by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight. For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day's most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use in my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints, -- I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death.
I Am Love
Some say I can fly on the wind, yet I haven’t any wings. Some have found me floating on the open sea, yet I cannot swim. Some have felt my warmth on cold nights, yet I have no flame. And though you cannot see me, I lay between two lovers at the hearth of fireplaces. I am the twinkle in your child’s eyes. I am hidden in the lines of your mother's face. I am your father's shield as he guards your home. And yet… Some say I am stronger than steel, yet I am as fragile as a tear. Some have never searched for me, yet I am around them always. Some say I die with loss, yet I am endless. And though you cannot hear me, I dance on the laughter of children. I am woven into the whispers of passion. I am in the blessings of Grandmothers. I embrace the cries of newborn babies. And yet… Some say I am a flower, yet I am also the seed. Some have little faith in me, yet I will always believe in them. Some say I cannot cure the ill, yet I nourish the soul. And though you cannot touch me, I am the gentle hand of the kind. I am the fingertips that caress your cheek at night. I am the hug of a child. I am love.
Looking For Your Face by Rumi
From the beginning of my life I have been looking for your face, but today I have seen it. Today I have seen the charm, the beauty, the unfathomable grace of the face that I was looking for. Today I have found you, and those who laughed and scorned me yesterday are sorry that they were not looking as I did. I am bewildered by the magnificence of your beauty, and wish to see you with a hundred eyes. My heart has burned with passion and has searched forever for this wondrous beauty that I now behold. I am ashamed to call this love human, and afraid of God to call it divine. Your fragrant breath, like the morning breeze, has come to the stillness of the garden. You have breathed new life into me. I have become your sunshine, and also your shadow. My soul is screaming in ecstasy. Every fiber of my being is in love with you. Your effulgence has lit a fire in my heart, and you have made radiant for me the earth and sky. My arrow of love has arrived at the target. I am in the house of mercy, and my heart is a place of prayer.
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate...When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds. Admit impediments. Love is not love, Which alters when it alteration finds,Or bends with the remover to remove. Oh, no! it is an ever-fixed mark. That looks on tempests.. and is never shaken. It is the star to every wandering bark. Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love is not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks. Within his bending sickle's compass come. Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out.. even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved,I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
The Magic of Love by Helen Steiner Rice
Love is like magic, and it always will be, For love still remains life's sweet mystery. Love works in ways that are wondrous and strange, And there's nothing in life that love cannot change! Love can transform the most commonplace Into beauty and splendor and sweetness and grace. Love is unselfish, understanding and kind, For it sees with its heart, and not with its mind. Love is the answer that everyone seeks; Love is the language that every heart speaks. Love can't be bought, it is priceless and free. Love, like pure magic, is life's sweet mystery!!
THIS IS FRIENDSHIP by Mary Carolyn Davies
I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love the part of me that you bring out. I love you for putting your hand into my heaped-up heart. And passing over all the frivolous and weak things you can not help seeing there. And drawing out into the Light, all the beautiful radiant things. That no one else has looked quite hard enough to find. I love you for ignoring the possibilities of the fool in me. And laying hold of the possibilities of good in me. I love you for closing your eyes to the discords in me, And adding to the music in me by worshipful listening. You have done it without a touch, without a sign, without a word, you have done it by being yourself. You are each other’s best friend.
Touched By An Angel by Maya Angelou
We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight live coiled in shells of loneliness until love leaves its high holy temple and comes into our sight to liberate us into life. Love arrives and in its train come ecstasies old memories of pleasure ancient histories of pain. Yet if we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls. We are weaned from our timidity In the flush of love's light we dare be brave And suddenly we see that love costs all we are and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free.
Destiny
Somewhere there waited in this world of ours for one lone soul another lonely soul, each choosing each through all the weary hours and meeting strangely at one sudden goal. Then blend they, like green leaves with golden flowers, into one beautiful and perfect whole; and life's long night is ended and the way lies open onward to eternal day.
Ching
When two people are at one in their inmost hearts, they shatter even the strength of iron or bronze. And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts, their words are sweet and strong, like the fragrance of orchids.
Irish Blessing
May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon the fields. May the light of friendship guide your paths together. May the laughter of children grace the halls of your home. May the joy of living for one another trip a smile from your lips, a twinkle from your eye, May the good Lord embrace you with the arms that have nurtured you the whole length of your joy-filled days.
To Love Another by Rainer Maria Rilke
For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation... Loving does not at first mean merging, surrendering, and uniting with another person-- it is a high inducement for the individual to ripen... to become world for the sake of another person; it is a great, demanding claim, something that chooses us and calls us to vast distances.
The Hungering Dark by Frederick Buechner
Matrimony is called holy, because this brave and fateful promise of a man and a woman, to love and honor and serve each other through thick and thin, looks beyond itself to more fateful promises still, and speaks mightily of what human life at its most human and most alive and most holy must always be. Every wedding is a dream, and every word that is spoken there means more than it says, and every gesture - the clasping of hands, the giving of rings- is rich with mystery. And so it is that we hope with every bride and groom, that the love they bear one another, and the joy they take in one another, may help them grow in love for this whole world where their final joy lies.
What is a Marriage? by Colin McCarty
It is the most beautiful thing that can happen between two people in love. A marriage is more than just a husband and a wife. It is a bridge which allows the love of two very special people to give meaning and worth and wonder to life. It is a continual process of building; of shaping; of communicating; and caring. It is the deepest and sweetest understanding. It is sharing todays and tomorrows together and making each one more treasured and more complete than anyone could make them alone. A marriage is a home interwoven with hopes and memories and dreams. The thankfulness and love it can bring have no comparison. Being happily married is the most beautiful thing that can happen... to anyone.
The Foundations of Marriage by Regina Hill
Love, trust, and forgiveness are the foundations of marriage. In marriage, many days will bring happiness, while other days may be sad. But together, two hearts can overcome everything... In marriage, all of the moments won't be exciting or romantic, and sometimes worries and anxiety will be overwhelming. But together, two hearts that accept will find comfort together. Recollections of past joys, pains, and shared feelings will be the glue that holds everything together during even the worst and most insecure moments. Reaching out to each other as a friend, and becoming the confidant and companion that the other one needs, is the true magic and beauty of any two people together. It's inspiring in each other a dream or a feeling, and having faith in each other and not giving up... even when all the odds say to quit. It's allowing each other to be vulnerable, to be himself or herself, even when the opinions or thoughts aren't in total agreement or exactly what you'd like them to be. It's getting involved and showing interest in each other, really listening and being available, the way any best friend should be. Exactly three things need to be remembered in a marriage if it is to be a mutual bond of sharing, caring, and loving throughout life: love, trust, and forgiveness.
Somewhere I Have Never Traveled by E.E. Cummings
Somewhere I have never traveled, gladly beyond any experience, your eyes have their silence: in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me, or which I cannot touch because they are too near, your slightest look easily will unclose me though I have closed myself as fingers, you open always petal by petal myself as spring opens (touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose or if your wish be to close me, I and my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly, as when the heart of this flower imagines the snow carefully everywhere descending; nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals the power of your intense fragility: whose texture compels me with this colour of its countries, rendering death and forever with each breathing (I do not know what it is about you that closes and opens; only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses) nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands.
The Art of Marriage
The little things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It is remembering to say I love you at least once a day. It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon; it should continue through all the years. It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is standing together facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family. It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy. It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways. It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel. It is not looking for perfection in each other. It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding, and a sense of humor. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow. It is finding room for the things of the spirit. It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal. It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.
The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing. It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive. It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals, or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide or fade it or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being a human. It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy. I want to know if you can see the beauty even when it is not pretty everyday, and if you can source your life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, Yes! It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children. It doesn't interst me who you are, or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
These I Can Promise
I cannot promise riches, wealth, or gold; I cannot promise you an easy pathway that leads away from growing old. But I can promise all my heart's devotion; A smile to chase away your tears; A love that's ever true and ever growing; A hand to hold in yours through each tomorrow. I can promise to you all my love, given from deep within my heart. This is what I have to offer and I can promise it is yours until death do us part.
Ogden Nash (1902-1971)
Geniuses of countless nations have told their love for generations till all their memorable phrases are common as goldenrod or daisies. Their girls have glimmered like the moon, or shimmered like a summer moon, stood like a lily, fled like a fawn, now the sunset, now the dawn, here the princess in the tower there the sweet forbidden flower. Darling, when I look at you every aged phrase is new, and there are moments when it seems I've married one of Shakespeare's dreams.
The Colour of My Love by David Foster and Arthur Janov
I'll paint a sun to warm your heart knowing that we'll never part. I'll draw the years all passing by so much to learn, so much to try. I'll paint my mood in a shadow blue, Paint my soul to be with you. I'll sketch your lips in shaded tones, draw your mouth to my own. I'll trace a hand to wipe your tears and trace a look to calm your fears. A silhouette of dark and light to hold each other oh so tight. I'll paint the stars in the evening sky, draw the light into your eyes, a touch of love, a touch of grace, to softly fall on your moonlit face. And with this ring our lives will start, let nothing keep our love apart. I'll take your hand to hold in mine, and be together through all time. From This Day Forward Author Unknown From this day forward, you shall not walk alone. My heart will be your shelter, and my arms will be your home.
Time In A Bottle by Jim Croce
If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do, is to save every day till eternity passes away, just to spend them with you. If I could make days last forever; if words could make wishes come true; I'd save every day like a treasure and then, again, I would spend them with you. If I had a box just for wishes and dreams that had never come true; the box would be empty, except for the memory of how they were answered by you. But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do, once you find them. I've looked around enough to know that you're the one I want to go through time with.